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Re: Words, movies, and music
> The discussion about "inappropriate words" has been fascinating. I
> think, Peter, that "profanity" might be just the right word. If sex is
> sacred, then one aspect of the question under debate is whether that
> word (and specifically, Linford's use of it) profanes that sacred act.
Hmmmm, I can see what you mean. But there is still nothing about the word
"fuck" itself that is inherently profane. Animals fuck. Unless we say
that animals are engaging in a "sacred" activity -- and I am one of those
who prefers to believe that religion is an exclusively human concern -- we
have to concede that the word is not profane, though it may be vulgar.
The question, I think, then becomes whether Linford is reducing a "sacred"
human activity to the level of something mere animals do, and thus
"profaning" the human activity in question. That is, the question is not
whether "fuck" is an inherently "profane" word, because it isn't, but
whether it is a "profane" word *in relation to* something else, such as
human love-making. By focusing on the animal aspect of human sex, is
Linford denigrating the spiritual aspect of human sex? I don't think he
is. We are, as C.S. Lewis said, amphibians -- part animal, part spirit --
and this poem is an attempt to reconcile those two sides of us. (This,
BTW, kinda touches on one of my main objections to _The Last Temptation of
Christ_; it extols the spirit at the expense of the flesh, the animal.)
--- Peter T. Chattaway ------------------------ petert at interchg_ubc.ca ---
"I detected one misprint, but to torture you I will not tell you where."
Winston Churchill to T.E. Lawrence, re Seven Pillars of Wisdom
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